I really thought you were going to take Seattle, CT. Like I said, I've been going back and forth all week. I finally decided, defense wins championships, and bad weather (I knocked a FG off my original score) favored Seattle. Still, I have this nagging suspicion that the refs (aka Mara) want Manning to get another ring.

I'm actually rooting for Denver, because I don't want to see the Seahawks win.

Deadskins wrote:I really thought you were going to take Seattle, CT. Like I said, I've been going back and forth all week. I finally decided, defense wins championships, and bad weather (I knocked a FG off my original score) favored Seattle. Still, I have this nagging suspicion that the refs (aka Mara) want Manning to get another ring.

I'm actually rooting for Denver, because I don't want to see the Seahawks win.

Oh well, good luck, CT.

I went back and forth, for that same reason... I think, generally, "Defense wins championships" is true... but this is Peyton Manning... who has two weeks to prepare. Denver's defense is not bad, either... and Seattle would also have an uphill climb. I think it will be relatively low scoring (for a Denver game) due to Seattle's D... but I don't see Seattle's offense doing enough to overcome.

SEA has a clear edge on defense in PPG (10) and YPG (83). Teams are almost dead even in turnovers forced. DEN actually ranks just ahead of SEA against the run.

DEN has a clear edge on offense. They outscore the league average by about 2 TDs.

I see DEN stuffing Lynch like they stuffed Blount and making Wilson beat them.

I see Manning coming to the line w/over 20 seconds on the play clock and finding a matchup he likes. He is also more willing to audible to a run when it is there than any QB in the league.

Barring goofy bounces and such, the only way I see Seattle winning is in a cold rain with significant wind or simply a harsh wind. A 38 degree day with 5 mph or less and I see Manning picking them apart.

Whether I'm right or not, it's about the Off. vs. Def matchups. Though SEA clearly has the more awesome D, Den clearly has the more awesome O, their D does not suck, and I think their O vs. the SEA D is a better matchup than the SEA O vs. the DEN D.

I see this as Peyton has a better chance against a very good Seattle secondary and overall a good, all round defense than Russell Wilson and M. Lynch against the Broncos defense that managed to negate Tom Brady and some RB called Blount that everybody was raving about

Before last weekend's games - Blount was being looked at as NE's ticket to the SB

Lynch has proven that he's a good RB but last Friday he was not in the same league as Blount after his previous 2 weeks

it's as simple as that - who has the better QB?

they have to play the game but most times the team with the better QB wins the game

Russell Wilson is not even close to being as good a manager of the game as Peyton Manning

you are taking a big chance picking the Seahawks and you're hoping the better team does not show up - that's just stupid

We are looking for players and coaches "who understand that it’s all about the team and that we’re going to take care of each other, no matter what" - S. McCloughan

Deadskins wrote:I really thought you were going to take Seattle, CT. Like I said, I've been going back and forth all week. I finally decided, defense wins championships, and bad weather (I knocked a FG off my original score) favored Seattle. Still, I have this nagging suspicion that the refs (aka Mara) want Manning to get another ring.

I'm actually rooting for Denver, because I don't want to see the Seahawks win.

Oh well, good luck, CT.

I went back and forth, for that same reason... I think, generally, "Defense wins championships" is true... but this is Peyton Manning... who has two weeks to prepare. Denver's defense is not bad, either... and Seattle would also have an uphill climb. I think it will be relatively low scoring (for a Denver game) due to Seattle's D... but I don't see Seattle's offense doing enough to overcome.

Yeah, I probably screwed up. I should have picked on Thursday when I was on the same logic path as you.

DarthMonk wrote:Nevertheless ... wind is a factor in this stadium more often than not.

Deadskins wrote:I don't think it's as bad as the previous stadium.

DarthMonk wrote:You mean the place where the Redskins lost the NFC Championship 17-0 and never kicked off?

Deadskins wrote:You don't have to remind me, I was there.

... though at one point, you seemed to have forgotten (or never realized) they never kicked off (unless you were just joking).

Where are you getting that?

From here:

welch wrote:I'd rate Doug Williams pretty high, as well. So did Joe Gibbs...as best I remember, Williams was making $450K, and "people" (mean Jack Kent Cooke) thought that was too high for a backup QB, especially since Schroeder was the rising star of the '85 and '86 seasons. Considered right up with Marino and Elway and the other young QB's. (Jim Kelley?).Ah, Jay...what happened?

Countertrey wrote:Sometimes, the arrogant actually get what they deserve...

welch wrote:I remember Jay's comment before the Wind Bowl NFC Championship at Giants Stadium: the wind is no problem...just keep the nose of the ball down...

DarthMonk wrote:I don't think we should bash him too much. He got us to the game. Does he still hold the team record for most passing yards in a season? The Giants were pretty good. We ran for 40 yards that day. We never kicked off.

I remember Gary Clark dropping a nice deep ball - a great throw into the wind - probably a TD. I also remember getting an early stop on 3rd and long. The Giants committed holding and rather than let them kick a FG on 4th down Gibbs took the penalty and gave them another chance on 3rd down hoping to force a punt. They converted (Simms to McConkey) and then scored a TD. 7-0 Giants.

If Willams had not come back into the next Super Bowl after getting hurt Jay may have ended up as MVP. He made one very important play when he was in. He got blindsided and could easily have fumbled but did not (Williams actually did fumble when he got injured - the refs were kind).

Jay was nice enough to autograph a football for me. Nice ball. Got 4 qbs on it - Jay, Doug, Mark, and Babe - during the strike.

Jays' career took a nose dive when he went to the Raiders. It was a good move for us - Beathard knew what he was doing.

Deadskins wrote:I was at that game and Clark's drop was a game changer. It was a certain TD that would have tied the game at that point. And we did kick off at least once.

DarthMonk wrote:Actually, the Giants won the toss and did not (could not) defer. They chose a direction whence we elected to receive. We then chose to receive in the 2nd half. In an odd twist, we never kicked off. It's true.

I did make a mistake, though. The Giants already led 3-0 before the penalty I referenced. The ensuing TD made it 10-0. Clark's drop either would have given us a 7-0 lead, a 7-3 lead or made it 7-10 ... I can't remember.